billion dollar payout. is there a key striking it rich? tonight we separate the math from the emotion. confessions of a child star. it became a monster sitcom hit thanks to scripted innuendo, unscripted meltdowns. >> oim a drug. it's called charlie sheen. >> reporter: now the youngest star is staging a moral rebellion. >> please don't watch "two and a half men." >> we talked to the pastor behind it all. and curves ahead. from miley cyrus to any masochistic fashionista. the corset is making a come back. enduring a pinch of pain for a perfect hour glass figure. this is "nightline." november 27th, 2012.

>> good evening. i'm bill weir. it has been said that a lottery is really just a tax for people who are bad at math. but when the jackpot hits half a billion dollars, even mr. spock might let go of the logic to go buy a $2 fantasy. yes, the odds are 1 in 175 million, and yes, this powerball payday has rolled over 16 time without hitting all the numbers. but across much of the nation and all of tomorrow, all that will be pushed aside. drowned out by the inner mantra, somebody has to win and it might as well be me. here's rhinoens. . >> reporter: everyone who lines one cash in their hands and dreams in their heads seems to have a strategy. >> just one. >> reporter: by definition, just about everyone's strategy fails. is there any formula, any mathematical anything that can give you an edge over the person in front of you in line? >> no, don't put that on camera. >> there you go and good luck.

>> thank you. >> reporter: to find out we went back to school tonight to southern methodist university to professor scott norris' math class. he went to harvard. >> the number of possible combinations is given by -- >> reporter: like most journalists, i barely passed algebra. we all agreed i should get some individual attention. professor norris's formula is painfully complicated. >> there are 15 possible ball and five are drawn and the number of combinations is given by this form l.a. >> reporter: the solution is downright painful. >> to get the total probability we simply multiply these numbers together and get a total probability of about 175 million. >> reporter: professor, with so many people playing this time around, does that hurt my odds? >> your odds are the same no matter how many people play. you just have a higher chance of having to split the jackpot. >> reporter: is it better to choose my own number or let the computer pick them. >>? every number has exactly the same likelihood of winning so it doesn't matter. >> reporter: you might wonder,

how did the jackpot get this big? because there have been so many losers. no winners in an unbelievable 16 drawings in a row. this time, so many people are buying tickets, powerball big wigs just raised the jackpot yet again today. to a cool, clean half a billion dollars. yes, $500 million. for the record, if you take cash value option, you get a not so clean but still very cool $327 million. now is probably a good time to review those odds again. experts put the chance of winning at about 1 in 175 million. since nearly all of us are losers, maybe these number will make us feel better. one status stigs concluded you are more likely to be possessed by the devil today than win the powerball. in fact, the odds are better that a lot of bad things might ham to us today. like getting hit by an asteroid or being devoured by a flesh eating bacteria. yes, someone really came one

those odds. professor, if i buy a lot of tickets, does that help my odds? >> it does. your odds increase exactly proportional to how many you buy. if you buy 100 tickets, your odds increase to approximately on 1 in one.7 million. >> reporter: one thing that shouldn't matter is where you live. but it sure looks like it does. let's take the biggest jackpots. $300 million plus. illinois and new jersey have been lucky there. both states have sold three winning lottery tickets worth that much. michigan is home to the winner of the largest single cash payout. donald lawson took home $337 million earlier this year. nebraska holds the distinction for selling the most valuable ticket ever. $365 million. split by eight workers in a meat packing plant back in 2006. 42 states, d.c. and the u.s. virgin islands participate in

powerball. but that leaves millions of americans out of luck. including people in a little place called california. ironically enough, nevada. yes, people who live in the shadow of the las vegas strip cannot make this bet, at least not in their own state. still, thousands from both states flocked to stores along the arizona border every time the jackpot gets this big. >> i want to win so i can put it all on the 49ers. >> reporter: which leads me to my last question. it was inspired by something everyone's favorite sports reporter observed last night on our station. >> these stories kill me. what is it, like 425 million, everybody goes nuts. they have to by a lottery ticket. 147, i'll wait. i will take the $100 million. that's just me. >> are the smaller jackpots a better bet? >> in one sense knock. you always to have pay $2 to play. the smaller the jackpot, the smaller the expected payoff. however work larger jackpot there is a higher chance you

might have to split the pot so it is a tradeoff. >> reporter: by the way, the good professor, the one who actually understand that's formula, said he has never played the lottery. ever. although he admits that is not a lesson most of us will learn and certainly not on the eve of the big drawing. >> there you go. and good luck. >> "nightline" in math class. >> just think of it as a ticket to dream. coming up next, a high paid young agentor declares his hit sitcom is filth and encourages his viewers to tune out. we have it next. we use this board to compare car insurance rates side by side so you get the same coverage, often for less. that's one smart board. what else does it do, reverse gravity? [ laughs ] [ laughs ] [ whooshing ] tell me about it.

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if the history of hollywood has taught us anything, it is mamas, don't let your babies become child actors. we have seen all flavors of amoral self-destruction over the years as young talent cracks under all that attention. tonight we have a different kind of moral rebellion on the set of "two and a half men" after angus t. jones declared his show is unwatchable filth. here's david wright. >> reporter: a tv star denounces his own popular show and all but quits on camera. sound familiar? >> i am on a drug. it is called charlie sheen. um, it's not available. if you try it once, you will die. >> no, not charlie sheen this time. now it is the half men of "two and a half men." angus t. jones who plays jake. >> i can't take all the credit. the cookie was loaded with pot. >> it has nothing to do with drugs or tiger blood for that matter. >> you cannot be a true god-fearing person and be on a

television show like that. i know i can't. >> he's talking about god. and jones' conviction that god is not a fan of the show. >> if you watch "two and a half men," please to that watching "two and a half men." i'm on "two and a half men" and i don't want to be on it. please stop watching it. please stop filling your head with filth. please. >> tbs and warn he brothers aren't commenting but today charlie sheen weighed in, saying with the hale-bopp like meltdown, it is radically clear to me the show is cursed. it appeared to be partly recorded in his trailer at the sitcom. >> we're out in l.a. out at warner brothers studios. >> that man is christopher hudson. >> thanks for doing this testimony with me first of all. >> thanks, man, for having me. >> also known as the forerunner, a reference to the biblical

prophet isaiah and john the baptist. >> i don't have a church. most of my ministry is online. >> he said that gas rationing in new york city could lead to cannibalism. >> your baby might start looking like a chicken. >> he has accused justice mayer. >> she was a part of an elite pagan group. >> people see me and they're like, whoa! you're changed. i see this guy and i'm like, thanks, man of god. forerunner right here. >> on the video, angus jones makes it clear he's a phaneuf hudson's but hudson said he has never seen "two and a half men" and was meeting jones for the first time that day. >> everything that angus said came from angus. i was sitting there and if you look at the video and you see my fates, i was as genuinely, i don't want to say shocked but taken back by his boldness. >> please stop filling your head

with filth. please. >> i don't know if angus's calling is to become a preacher. i don't know. but i think that angus should follow the leadership of the holy spirit upon his life. >> others aren't so sure. first and foremost, jones' mother. she reportedly said she is concerned her son is being exploited by this church. on the video, jones suggests his recent conversion to seventh day adventism caused a rift. >> my family, not all of my family but some of them were like those cults. no, no, no. >> today the seventh day adventists were distancing themselves, noting for the record that the forerunner chronicles is not a ministry operated by the seventh day adventist church and its host is not a pastor of the seventh day adventist church. connie who produces and hosts an adventist tv show did her own interview with jones last october. >> there is a real specific

reason that we've invited angus today. >> in it he talked about his conversion but did not trash the sitcom. >> i would feel badly if people thought less of him or thought because i think he is a very sincere, balanced young man. >> the doctor sees the video as unhealthy. a form of self-loathing. he is a former child actor himself. that's him on eight is enough. he went on to become a doctor whose patients include actors struggling with addiction. >> he has done so well for himself and then for years growing up on this show and all of a sudden decides to say i'm denouncing this show, please don't watch it. that seems very self-destructive to me. >> this is a cry for help. >> absolutely. >> the forerunner christopher hudson doesn't buy it. >> he is $300,000 plus per episode. how many people wouldn't want to be in that position? when people see you ready to walk away from that kind of money they'll look at you and say you must be crazy. so the reason why people look upon his action as being the

me meltdown is because they've never walked in those shoes. anybody that is a servant of god and that is a christian does not believe he is having a meltdown. >> whatever it was, he and his colleagues will have time to mull it over. he isn't due to be back on the set until after the holiday. document angus jones issued a statement. i apologize if my remarks reflect me showing indifference to and disrespect of my colleagues. that a lack of appreciation of the extraordinary opportunity of which i have been blessed. i never intended that. the statement does not make it clear if he intends to honor the remainder of his contract and if he does want out? well, on this particular show -- ♪ >> there is a precedent. "nightline" in hollywood. >> thank you, david. still ahead, how to have a perfect hour glass figure as long as you don't mind

rearranging a few internal organs. the corset comeback when we come back. cool, you found it. wow. nice place. yeah. [ chuckles ] the family thinks i'm out shipping these. smooth move. you used priority mail flat-rate boxes. if it fits, it ships for a low, flat rate. paid for postage online and arranged a free pickup. . maybe. [ timer dings ] gotta go. [ male announcer ] priority mail flat rate boxes. online pricing starts at $5.15. only from the postal service.

i put away money. i was 21, so i said, "hmm, i want to retire at 55." and before you know it, i'm 58 years old. time went by very fast. it goes by too, too fast. ♪ but i would do it again in a heartbeat. [ laughs ] ♪ ♪

♪ yes, there is the particular torture of the five-inch stilletto heel but considering there were no juicy sweatpants, no blue jeans, all things considered, it seal like modern fashion is considerably more comfortable than eras past. at least it was until corsets started making a comeback. lama hasan has the story on sign

of the times. >> reporter: does the mere word corset conjure up all kinds of images from waistlines to tort you devices as i soon found out. >> do i have to do anything like suck in my stomach? >> reporter: i was prodded, squeezed and finally strapped into an 1870s victorian replica. >> that's not so bad, actually. >> i need to do it up now. >> there's more? >> reporter: they've been around since the 1300s in some shape or form. they've come from using bone in the 18th century in the days of the fated french queen, marie antoinette. victorian england to the gritty wild wild west. and finally, a modern twist. using metal. >> that can that be very

comfortable and they're very supportive and they support your back as well as your front. >> reporter: well, try telling that to judy garland as she was being strapped into one in a movie, meet me in st. louis. judy, i feel your pain. but now these undergarments are back in a big way. from miley stirs. >> you don't think you're being obvious? >> they're going up even though there is a recession. >> reporter: even the queen's brazier maker is reporting a 45% increase from last year. the curator at britain's largest corset collection thinks she knows why. >> i think it has a lot to do with the fact that you can get that lovely hour glass figure without spending hours in the gym. >> reporter: it was only a decade ago women were too embarrassed to even be seen buying them. >> i think women have accepted that they cannot really have it all and they're looking for an easy fix.

because with corsetry, it smooths out your body. ♪ >> reporter: at least according to her, a perfect smoothed out body and an hour glass figure in seconds. ♪ you push it up here ♪ pull it down there ♪ tighten up the middle until you've going for air ♪ >> reporter: all need is one of these, ladies, and a pinch of pain. the perils of looking good. >> what do you think? >> reporter: for "nightline," in london. >> she was extracted six weeks later. thank you. we hope you'll join us tomorrow night. a big interview. cynthia mcfadden sits down with brad pitt to talk about his passions, and his new film. the crime killer, killing them softly co-starring james gandalfini. >> boast of you have played a lot of unseemly guys. there must be something really gratifying about doing it.

is there in. >> sure. it is going to be much more fun. that's the simple answer. you exercise demons in a way. we have to live in certain rules in a society. but to be free of those, i think psychologically what is in play. >> i have some dark moments and i think it is useful that i have a place to put them. it is channeled into creativity. >> and much more creative tomorrow on "nightline." thank you for watching abc news. remember to tune in for gma tomorrow. we're always online at abc.com. have a great night. up next on an all new jimmy kimmel live, reba mcintyre. mike tyson. >> how you been doing? >> might not be able to walk, it's the first time mike and reba have been in the same room together since they broke .